Pinchas 5783 ~ July 7, 2023

As our parasha begins, we find that the cohen, priest Pinchas, son of Eliezer, grandson of Aaron, is being honored for his acts of heroism. As the story unfolded, the Moabite nation had sent women into the Israelite camp, to entice the Israelite men to worship Baal (a heathen god) over Hashem (the God of the Israelite people and our God). These women were sent in to seduce the men through sexual favors. In doing so, they were not only trying to convert them to their religious practices, but also to weaken the resolve of the Israelite army, so that they could be defeated. At some point one of the Israelite men brought a Midianite woman over to his companions with the intent of being both sexually and spiritually enticed by her. This man was not simply any individual. He was actually one of the princes from the ancestral home of the tribe of Shimon. Pinchas, sensed what was happening, and in order to stop this plague that overtook the Israelite people, slew the two of them with his spear. And the plague ended that had come upon the Israelite nation. 

Throughout the ages, other religions have reached out to try to convert the Jewish people either by force or by enticement. The Anglican Church of Canada announced this week that it will no longer pray for the conversion of Jews to Christianity as part of their worship service. I wonder how many of my fellow Canadian Jews were actually worried by such prayer. Could it be that a prayer offered in an Anglican church would have such  great power that it would somehow have an influence upon me or my fellow Jews? How different is that than the second prayer of the Alenu that we recite three times a day praying that the world will recognize Hashem as the true God of the world, and everyone will abandon their gods “and they will bowdown and prostrate themselves before You, Adon-ai our God?”

As a Jew, with my solidly and firmly planted beliefs in Hashem as the one true God of this world, I do have the hope that one day the world will not be divided by religion. In that regard, could our prayer simply be stating that we hope that one day we will recognize that the god that other religions pray to is the same one as ours, no matter what others use as the Divine name? And in that regard, we would be referring to God who is the Creator, the God who we as Jews still remain in awe of as we recall the Revelation at Mt. Sinai, and who guides us in a most ethical manner.  Or might it be that there will be are cognition by others that their god is truly our God, who we refer to as Adon-ai?

Just yesterday, I was stopped in a parking lot by a husband and wife wearing Magen Davids. As we began to talk, I recognized that there was a cross inside their Stars of David. We began to talk for a few minutes, neither trying to convert the other, but simply wanting to recognize each other in or own faith traditions. They also shared with me that they stood in solidarity with Israel at this moment. And then we wished each other well and went on our merry ways.

I end with a note of prayer for Israel, its people and for the day when peace will become a reality. This week has been truly a difficult one for Israel, both in its response to terrorism that crosses into its borders from Jenin and from other Palestinian territories including Gaza and from the world’s response to Israel’s need to protect its citizens from the aggression of Palestinian terrorists. May the world recognize that the safety and security of Israel and all of those who live within its borders is paramount, despite the pressures of Israel’s enemies to convince them otherwise.  In some ways, the actions of the Israeli army this week might be somewhat parallel to the passion of Pinchas in our Torah reading, to find a means to halt the plague of infiltration of Palestinian terrorists with the intent of destroying the Jewish people then and Israel now.

Oseh shalom…May Hashem bring peace to the land and the people.

Shabbat shalom,

Rabbi K